Delete a volume

Delete a volume to remove its data and stop paying for it. Deleting frees the volume’s share of your storage quota once the deletion completes. You can’t undo a delete.

Before you begin

The volume’s URN.
Permission pvs.volume.delete on the volume. See Built-in roles.
The volume isn’t attached to an instance. A volume that reports INUSE must be detached first. See Attach and detach volumes.
The volume has no snapshots left. Every snapshot that doesn’t report DELETED blocks the delete, including one in ERROR, because a failed snapshot may still hold a copy of the data.

Clear what blocks the delete

Check the volume’s status. If it’s INUSE, find the instance and detach the volume. See Find the instance a volume is attached to.
terminal
```
origin storage get-volume --volume-urn <volume-urn>
```

Find the volume’s snapshots. Every snapshot reports the volume it was taken from as volumeUrn. List your project’s snapshots with the API and look for that URN:

GraphQL

query {
  pvs {
    snapshots(input: { projectUrn: "<project-urn>" }) {
      urn
      volumeUrn
      status
      protectionStatus
    }
  }
}

Delete each of those snapshots, unprotecting it first if needed, and wait until each reports DELETED. See Delete a snapshot.

Delete the volume

Delete the volume.

terminal

origin storage delete-volume --volume-urn <volume-urn>

With the API, use the deleteVolume mutation:

GraphQL

mutation {
  pvs {
    deleteVolume(input: { volumeUrn: "<volume-urn>" }) {
      accepted
      message
    }
  }
}

Check the volume until it reports DELETED.
terminal
```
origin storage get-volume --volume-urn <volume-urn>
```
A deleted volume drops out of origin storage list-volumes at once. You can still look it up by URN, with no time limit.

Warning

Check that the delete took effect

A delete of a volume that still has snapshots should be refused with an error. In our testing on 12 October 2026, it was accepted and silently did nothing. Don’t rely on the error: check that the volume’s status reads DELETED. If it stays AVAILABLE, look for snapshots of it:

terminal

origin storage list-snapshots --project-urn <project-urn> \
  | jq --arg v "<volume-urn>" '.. | objects | select(.volumeUrn? == $v)'

Delete every snapshot it prints, unprotecting it first if needed, then delete the volume again.

What the platform refuses

These requests are refused immediately with an error, and nothing about the volume changes:

Request	What happens
The volume is attached	The error names the attachment that holds the volume. Detach the volume, or terminate the instance, and try again.
The volume has snapshots	The error names each snapshot that blocks the delete. Delete those snapshots first, then try again.
The volume is already being deleted	A volume in `DELETING` or `DELETED` can’t be deleted again.

You can delete a volume in ERROR. That’s how you clean up a volume whose creation or deletion failed.

If this fails

If the deletion is accepted but fails, the volume stays in your list as ERROR with a statusReason, and its disk may still exist. It still counts against your quota. Delete it again. See Troubleshoot storage.

Before you begin

Clear what blocks the delete

Delete the volume

What the platform refuses

If this fails

Related